You've seen this movie before. The plot is as thin as rice paper and the characters are straight out of a comic strip. What separates Wilson Yip's "Dry Wood Fierce Fire" from other recent Hong Kong comedies (including "Love Undercover") is Miriam Yeung as Alice. Miriam gives an infectious and bubbly performance as the plain girl in the middle of a love triangle with Louis Koo and Flora Chan. Director Yip is able to elicit a winning turn from Miriam that borders on extemporaneous outtake material.

At first, I thought "Dry Wood Fierce Fire" would be just another also-ran comedy, where every character appeared to be cardboard cutouts, from Alice's parents to her coworkers. All of my trepidations were allayed after the 20-minute mark when Miriam breaks free from the caricature portrayal into an idiosyncratic person full of vim and vigor. Miriam's performance is so vivacious that it even rubs off on Louis Koo, to create chemistry between the two leads. Koo still has problems with character transitions, but that is a minor flaw.

One day Miriam will make a film in which the producers give her a better wardrobe. Her recent movies show her in the frumpiest, unflattering of outfits. Kudos goes to Wilson Yip for transforming such lackluster material into a positive vehicle for Yeung. The other outstanding performance in the film goes to Wyman Wong, who plays one of Yueng's suitors, an eight-time kung fu champion. Cheung Tat-Ming also appears in a memorable cameo, as Yeung's uncle, filled with some funny kung fu antics.

Yueng steals the show with her winning performance and is the only reason to recommend "Dry Wood Fierce Fire."